They might have just got too big. Unlike other branches of mafia in Japan, the police needs to at least keep up some sort of appearances. As long as the dubious enterprises under their protection (in exchange for money) stay small, it won’t attract too much public attention. But if it gets huge, there’s no way the media and all manner of organizations won’t start asking how the police allows it to continue.

Recent comments by Kaarme:

There’s a bunch of titles on the list I readily find appropriate, but SAO being #4 is certainly funny in a bad way. I guess there’s no beating a show with immense popularity, whether it’s relevant or not.